Graveyard Shift
by BluiestarSS
Summary: Naomi had a few strange traditions that arose after she learned of her terminal illness. She connected with the dead a lot more than anyone else did, and sometimes, she dragged Little Guy into things. Leaving flowers on graves wasn't always terrible, though.


An ideal date for any normal person would consist of a dinner, a kiss, a hug, etc. Anything and everything that was considered cliche was part of a good date. That was what Little Guy had been taught, anyhow.

An ideal date with Naomi Kimishima, however, consisted of hitting a flower shop, buying a couple bouquets, and stopping at any and every cemetery that they saw on their way home. She hated to see people forgotten in death. That had been one of her biggest fears. Often, she would pick the oldest looking gravestones and lay the flowers there. Every now and again they would push the graves that fell over back in place, repair minor damage, and once they had to even chase out teenagers that had planned to vandalize a few of the stones.

Little Guy just got persuaded into it every now and again. He didn't mind, however. She often seemed pretty content in doing this. She always liked to help people, people she connected with. And... she supposed that this counted, considering she was due to join them. At least she had been. She was grateful that her demise was postponed, but everyone died one day.

This Saturday was no different than the last. She requested that he accompany her on this trip to a cemetery, but she had been incredibly insistent about this particular run. He shifted uneasily and made a jab at the fact that he did have plans, but she pleaded with him. He knew how important things could be to her when it involved something like this, and it seemed like this meant a lot to her, so he gave in. Over time, he noticed, as intent as she had been to do this, she seemed hesitant. All of her actions appeared to be almost forced, sometimes she would stare off, and she hardly spoke to him. She was normally a lot more talkative, even if by normal standards she spoke very little. She stared almost longingly at the flowers in the back of the car as she closed the door. It had been a while ago since she had received the information that she was going to live the rest of her life normally.

As always, she had insisted upon driving. She always had a knack for finding some of the older looking ones, some that would catch the eyes a little less than others. He always considered it an odd hobby, but... There wasn't much he could do to change it. It was what she liked to do, now that she couldn't make a difference while operating. Every time he glanced over at Naomi, he caught that she was hunched over the wheel, her hands locked In a death grip on the wheel. Her eyes were fixated upon the road but her mind didn't seem to be all there. He half wondered if this was how most accidents came to be. She didn't drive as carefully as before so that she could stop if she found a place she liked, her path seemed to be a little more carefully picked out this time around. He attempted maybe once to clear the silence by clearing his throat and making his presence known, but she did very little to acknowledge the action. He decided to let it go. Awkwardly silent car rides were a thing that happened quite often if she was in a bad mood.

He couldn't understand why she was caught in such a bad mood, though. She often was at her happiest doing this, because she was lifting the spirits of... well, the spirits around her, and she was making the cemeteries look a little more lively. They were not scary to her, they were not sad. They were just a part of life. If she didn't want to go to one at this particular time, he didn't understand why she convinced him to go. She was just so stressed for seemingly no reason... After what felt like an hour of driving in an area that he was completely unfamiliar with, they pulled over into one that overlooked the city. It looked very well taken care of and considered, making it all the more odd as to why she would be interested in this particular one.

"Can you please grab the flowers for me?" She had purchased less than usual, but as he thought about it, it made more sense for her to, if the had honestly picked this one out before she left instead of stopping wherever looked okay like normal. A lot of of these graves were well kept, obvious that family members were around to take care of their loved ones. Lilies. She had picked out lilies for this particular run. It seemed that this run would be quicker that usual; He only needed one hand to carry all of the flowers. By the time he had collected all of them and closed the car door, she had wandered off. That was a pretty common thing for her to do, but this time around, he found himself a little worried about her. She seemed a little more distant than usual. Something was on her mind, he could tell. Whether or not that was a good or a bad thing was up in the air still.

She tended to wander when things were on her mind. She liked to think. Walking around aided in her thoughts, or so she had told him. That would be perfectly fine, if it didn't mean he had to spend hours looking for her.

"Little Guy." It appeared she hadn't gone off too far if he could still hear her. Good. She gestured him over to the grave she hovered over, a grim expression upon her face. She often didn't feel for the dead, she just acknowledged and accepted the fact that they were dead, but she had a soft spot for the children's graves that they came across. How couldn't she? Almost losing Alyssa made her know that sort of agony. Perhaps she wasn't a mother who had lost her child, but she knew that it wasn't fair for a child to suffer or to die so prematurely.

'Stormy Dufford, age 6. May there be plenty to explore in the afterlife.' The grave was littered with assortments of memorial candles, cards, stuffed animals, blankets, and worn out toys that she could only assume that had belonged to her when she could still enjoy this living world. She looked up to him hopefully and he placed a flower gingerly on the grave, passing one to Naomi for her to place as well. If nothing else, at least they could find relief in the fact that she was far too innocent to see what horrors the world could really dish out. She was just a child. She lived and played and apparently liked to explore new things. It made them both wonder about how her death had come. It seemed that she had a family to take care of her as well, but it was obvious that they were suffering a huge loss. Maybe her death had been unexpected? Perhaps it was slow, like illness, but they knew it was coming, so they could be prepared. There was the possibility of it being something that seemed so minor as well, such as suffocating in bedsheets.

Naomi mulled over the gravestone for a few more moments before wandering away again. She often didn't let these things get to her, considering there was nothing she could do about it. She spoke once of hating to be powerless, but she knew she had to accept it. Maybe this wasn't simply just her hobby...? Maybe this was her coping mechanism to accept the fact that she really couldn't do everything, save everyone. He watched her walk away, but she kept her gaze focused on the city below. Odd. She wasn't searching for anything like normal. Maybe she had been here before? Maybe this had been the burial site of one of her family members. But then again, they were supposed to be off in Japan. Friend? But if she was mourning a close friend, she may tell him?

She continued to walk towards the back of the cemetery, where the stones slowly began to decrease, though the dates were becoming newer and newer. One of the ones was from this year. Actually, just a month ago. Nothing was on it, but she didn't bother to stop, so he tossed a flower on it as they walked by. She stopped where it appeared the cemetery ended, at least where the graves ended, and scoured for a specific location. She didn't seem to show any emotion when she found it. She just lifted her hand and pointed to it.

"The graves taper away around here... The land for the cemetery goes on for at least another acre or so. These are the plots that are reserved for those who are soon to die, at least those who had enough time to pick one out so their families didn't have to. I purchased this one when I realized what my demise actually amounted to." For a few months after learning how long she had left to live, she lived deeply in the denial stage. She hadn't realized that this would be it. But it all came crashing down on her one day, and she realized that this was it. She was bound to die. She had a set number of days left to live. Death was the end of it all and she had no way of knowing what was left for her after that.

Now, however, she had all the time in the world. She knew not to take it for granted, but it had to be surreal to look at this and realize that it had all come down to this. She picked a spot on the plot that had just barely been covered by the shade of a tree and sat down. He had no idea how to take this. Comforting words? They didn't mean much, considering she wasn't actually dying anymore anyhow. Well, when she did die, he supposed that he would be a little more prepared than others. Still, she appeared genuinely upset by the fact that she was forced to have to of planned this for herself. There was hardly anyone or anything here for her anymore. No family, few true friends... It was very likely that she would've been forgotten, too. Just like a lot of these graves. Another rotting corpse below the dirt that meant little to anyone visiting. Her actions wouldn't be remembered. Her life wouldn't be. That was what she was afraid of.

He sat down in front of her, watching her expression for a few moments. Her gaze flickered over to him for a split second to confirm the fact that he sat down, and then it returned to the skyline. She always enjoyed views like this. Though there wasn't much to be seen through dirt, the fact that there was beauty just above her would've been comforting. It really was a beautiful place. Had they not been here for such morbid reasons, she may be a little happier to be here. She appeared reminiscent and depressed. Maybe now she was still trying to believe she had a life ahead of her.

Carefully, he shifted through the bouquet of flowers, searching for a specific one. The movement caught Naomi's attention, watching as he so carefully picked out one of the lilies. Just like the rest of them, it was a white stargazer, though he was very picky about selecting the freshest cut. Once satisfied with his selection, he tentatively held it out to her. If this was her grave, he wouldn't have let it been forgotten like so many before. Though surprised by the action, she took it and held it for a little while, her gaze stuck on it instead of the city.

She hadn't considered the fact that she was leaving someone behind, excluding maybe Alyssa. She had almost overlooked the fact that she had forged a few friendships before she was supposed to die. Hah, that had been exactly the thing that she was trying to avoid at the time. She gestured for him to scoot a little closer and face the sky with her. They'd be there for a while.


End file.
